In The Middle
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: Sequel to From the Start R&R
1. XIV

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own anything X-men related bar the words below. OC included. Would've been a great B-day presie._

_Many of you may recognise this as the original chapter 14 from From the Start._

**Chapter XIV**

_It had been a week since Kurt had told Bobby and Kitty about being recruited as a member of the X-men team and there was still no hint or clue that what he was doing to celebrate was coming to fruition or had already happened. There had also been less sightings of the blue skinned elf in question._

_At first, Kitty, among all the other students once they heard the news, had thought that he was devoting time to training himself. But when the days passed by and the only time the elf was seen was at meal times they had all reached the same dreaded conclusion: someone was going to get pranked._

_Being Kurt's best friend since practically arriving at the school, Kitty knew the elf well enough to know that when he pranked someone it was talked about for at least a week afterwards and the receiver would always be paranoid for at least two weeks for fear of him striking again. As of yet she had not been targeted for one of his pranks but something inside her told her that she would be struck eventually._

_Right now however, Kitty was currently heading across the grounds out front towards the garage where she and several other students her age were to be given their first driving lessons. As she neared her destination, Kitty saw Scott wheeling his motor bike out of the garage with Jean walking beside him._

_As she watched the two instructors chatting, Kitty could not help but wonder how a relationship with Kurt would work out and if it would be anything like the pair before her. The latter she quickly dismissed. Kurt was one of those people who went wholeheartedly into whatever he did head first damn the cosequences and Kitty was sure that, when he became a teacher, he would make sure that the students would enjoy it. If anything, Kitty doubted she would have nothing short of a smile on her face when she got together with him._

_Kitty quickly shook her head to remove the thoughts buzzing inside before Jean or the Professor picked up on them, accidentally or not. If they ever got into a relationship, it would be as unpredictable and out of the blue as the blue skinned elf that had teleported away with her heart._

_Looking back at the couple before her, Kitty noticed that Scott was now looking at his bike with concern and Jean staring at him in mild amusement. The next moment, with a roar of the engine, a large cloud of confetti- for lack of a better word- belched out of the bike's exhaust pipes._

_Scott stared at the cloud with his lower jaw slightly ajar whilst Jean, Kitty and all the students who were on the grounds to witness the spectacle were all doubled over with laughter at the site. It did not take a genius or a telepath to know who was responsible even with Scott's yelling._

"_DAMN IT, KURT!"_

_*/#\*_

Kitty shook her head at John's antics. She was currently sitting at a table in the food court of a history museum that the school had funded a field trip for along with Rogue, Bobby and John who was currently toying about with his lighter in front of two teenage boys, brothers judging by their similar appearances and the fact that one of them called the other his brother, who had asked him for a light.

She knew that the four of them were probably in trouble already for sneaking away from the main group, but seeing what was starting to transpire now Kitty was regretting following them more than ever. She was stuck between wishing for the power to turn back time and for Kurt being here with them but seeing as his inducer was still unrepaired he had to stay back at the school.

"C'mon, John" Bobby said trying to be the mature one seeing as Kitty was not giving the guy one of her lectures about showing off. "Quit showing off"

"You're just saying that 'cause I'm impressing the girls more than you" John scoffed turning his attention away from the two teens long enough for one of them to swipe his lighter out of his hand.

"Hey!" He exclaimed quickly standing up before being blocked by the guy's brother. "Oh that's real cute!"

"Not so tough now, are you?" The teen in front of him taunted as his brother began igniting his cigarette.

The next second it was the brother exclaiming as the lighter and cigarette was suddenly snatched from his hand at such a speed he was left with just the butt of it. As one, the two brothers and the four mutant teens turned towards the snatcher only for them to freeze up. Standing there in his usual get up of white button up shirt with rolled up sleeves, tight fit black jeans and rose tinted glasses, Stefan Wagner gave them a look that could make a speeding locomotive stop in its tracks.

Despite having the same last name, he and Kurt were not related although that did not stop Kurt from calling him brother from time to time. He had been enrolled into the school via his late grandmother's will a couple of months ago and was immediately classed as a cold hearted snob by the rest of the students, not that he cared. Apparently however he was a bit of a softy inside, no matter how much he denied it, judging by the fact that he never tried to stop Kurt from calling him brother or that he was taking Kurt's place in the field trip.

"Shouldn't you four be with the rest of your group?" He asked in his stoic tone that revealed none of his apparent annoyance at playing babysitter.

None of the four were able to look Stefan in the eye. It was not the fact that one of his powers was the ability to induct illusions through eye contact, getting snake like eyes during activation, he just seemed intimidating whenever he asked a question directed at someone specifically.

"Hey!" One of the brothers said to Stefan. "You owe me a smoke"

Stefan glanced briefly at the brother before flicking the piece of cigarette he had in his hand at him, striking the forehead, then tossing the lighter back to John. The four students immediately got the hidden message to get back with their specified group and left. Stefan was about to follow when the other brother stood in front of him.

"Think you're tough, do you?" One of them asked Stefan.

"Think you can actually beat me?" Stefan countered pushing his glasses further up his nose fully aware that Kitty had noticed what was going on stayed back to help, not that he would need it.

'_We interrupt this program to bring you this important news broadcast. Earlier on this morning the President was targeted for an assassination attempt by a mutant'_

Stefan's head quickly swivelled towards the nearest television that was broadcasting the bulletin. Seeing this as an opening, one of the brothers tried to slug him one in the face only to balk when his fist was caught centimetres from Stefan's face.

Kitty was not surprised. She had seen Stefan catch an elastic band fired at him point blank by Kurt when the elf tried to surprise him. This was his other power: the speed and crushing power to rival a snake lashing out and crushing its opponent with its powerful jaws. That coupled with his snake like eyes gave him the codename _Asclepius_; star of the serpent bearer.

"Do that again, and your hand will never touch another thing" Stefan promised releasing the fist but still looking at the television which was going on about a mutant attempting to assassinate the president but failing and barely escaping with a fatal wound.

"Stefan" Scott called out to him. "Time to go"

"Yeah, yeah" Stefan replied stuffing his hands in his pockets and following his superior.

_*/#\*_

"In my opinion, Magneto's behind this" Scott said as he paced the Professor's study.

"Given that, out of the remaining members of the Brotherhood, Mystique may be able to pull off something like this, she can't do anything more than gather Intel on how to bust Magneto from his plastic cell" Kurt pointed out from his perch on the window ledge. "Plus she's still recovering from our battle last month"

"Kurt's right, Scott" Xavier agreed. "For Eric to do something like this would be irrational and only hurt his goal of mutant prosperity"

"You mean _superiority_" Scott corrected as he sat down beside Jean.

Xavier nodded in acceptance. He had known Eric Lensherr long enough to know that if the magnet manipulator had his way it would have been well publicised and by his hand as well.

"Well, whoever's behind this will allow the government to reintroduce the Registration act" Ororo put in.

"And possibly put every mutant under arrest, regardless of age, race and gender" Kurt added shivering at the thought. "This is making me feel like we're re-entering World War two. Except its us _mutants _instead of Jews this time"

None of the others needed to say anything. It was a unanimous silent agreement.

_-*/#\*-_

_And so the adventure continues and the war crawls even closer. For those curious, OC Stefan won't be making much appearances; this fic is focused mostly on Kitty & Kurt's path through the trilogy, although I might make the game a flashback course for the third part of this fic._

_If you wish to see this fic continued after I finish one of my current on going fics, there is a poll now out._

_Now if you'll excuse me, there's a B-day cake with my name on it_

_Later days!_


	2. XV

_Disclaimer is on chapter 1…or should that be chapter 14?_

_I have returned. Carefree Luminary- The bringer of KxK fics to all X-men catagories & all that blah-blah-blah! Okay, enough of the trumpet tooting, I've changed my name & such but am still chucking out the fics & updates I'm known for._

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter XV**

_Like all of the blue teleporter's pranks before him, by the time lunch had rolled around word of Kurt's prank on Scott had spread throughout the whole of the school like wildfire and nobody, including the teachers, was finding it hard to _not_ laugh at what happened save for the recipient. Even the Professor, despite giving Kurt a stern lecture on tampering with an already tweaked motor bike that could now go at speeds twice the usual limit, had a hard time schooling his features during the meet._

_With the prank now revealed, the rest of the school finally managed to breathe easy, especially around the prankster, now that the possibility of them being targeted was now over. In fact, when Kurt showed up for lunch himself, everyone applauded him for another entertaining prank during what was probably a boring day in comparison._

"_You do realise Scott's going to make your life a living hell now for what you've done, right?" Kitty asked his as she sat down beside her blue skinned friend._

"_He won't" Kurt replied calmly as if used to death threats and the like after pranking an individual._

"_Really" Kitty threw back sounding sceptical about the elf's laidback manner about what was sure to come._

"_Ja. You see, mein fraulein freunde, it will be __his and Jean's one year anniversary__ soon. As such, I have managed to procure a table for two at a small restaurant that happens to be a favourite of our fair, telepathic maiden" Kurt explained to her quietly. "That said, try not to think about what I just told you around her or I shall be forced to _punish_ you accordingly"_

_Despite meaning that in a friendly way, indicating he would merely prank her the next chance he got, Kitty never the less could not help but shiver at his words as if indicating her was going to punish her in another way entirely._

"_Well…don't tell me things like that if you don't want Jean or anyone else to hear them" Kitty threw back before a sudden thought struck her. "Or is it that you just want a reason to prank me after what I did to you during lunch that one time?"_

_Grinning in that mischievous way of his that got her heart hammering, Kurt merely returned to his meal leaving Kitty alone to her thoughts- providing that no one was shoving their telepathic noses into her head._

***/#\***

The mood in the mansion's recreation room was nothing short of electric. Gathered round the large television monitor on one side of the room, the students cheered for their favourite of the four players currently going head to head on the latest Need for Speed game on the PS2 as they came to the final of a gruelling twenty lap race.

Cheers soon mixed with groans as Kurt's custom dark blue MX5 swerved passed Roberto's Dodge Neon at the last corner and crossed the finish line in first place with the rest of the racers close behind.

"I am invincible!" Kurt proclaimed loudly over the cheers going so far as to stand up with his arms raised causing the crowd to cheer even louder.

"You only won by pure luck" Sam told him putting down his own controller.

"On the contrary, you were just unable to put up with my skill, my style-Mein Gott!" Kurt proclaimed suddenly teleporting of the sofa as Kitty, in a re-enactment of the Alien movie, suddenly appeared through his chest as he sat down causing him to almost literally jump a mile to the amusement of the mass.

While all this was going on, Rogue and Bobby were having their own little competition in the form of a game of thumb wrestling. While normally, a little game such as theirs would inevitably result in the couple locking lips sooner or later, Rogue's fear of harming her ice making boyfriend curtailed any chance of such a thing happening even if the teen was willing to risk having a part of himself stolen in the process.

Despite his attempts at coaxing her into an innocent kiss between lovers, Rogue took whatever excuses she could find to 'rain check' their progress in the couples department. For this time, it was the familiar sound of a motorbike engine rumbling ever closer and since the only person to own a two wheeled vehicle had his mysteriously disappear on him over a month ago, Rogue had a confident idea as to who it was that was paying them a visit.

Left alone on the couch while Rogue left to see whoever it was popping in for a spell, Bobby quickly quelled the urge inside of him to freeze something over- like perhaps the jerk who had caught his girlfriend's attention and ruining whatever progress he had made in coaxing Rogue out of her shell where her powers were concerned.

***-#-***

It had been a while since he had been here. Then again, last time he was here was when Sabertooth had knocked him for a loop and he had woken up in the lower levels of this establishment. This time, it was of his own accord to visit a few individuals that had made a good impression on him the last time he was here including the girl walking towards him right this minute as he walked through the front doors and into the foyer.

"Miss me, kid?" Logan asked as he allowed the girl to hug him briefly before pulling away.

"Not really" Rogue replied after pretending to think for a moment.

Logan just nodded knowing that she was just acting like she was not really happy to see him. To be honest, she fairly reminded him of himself.

"So, how are you doing?" He inquired for conversations sake mostly. Being on his own for most of his life with the only human interaction was during the cage fights that earned him his bread would do that to a person.

"Ah'm stuck in a mansion with a guy whose mission in life is tah banish any sadness in this place, whaht do you think?" Rogue threw back with a small laugh.

At least that confirmed Logan's suspicions on whether or not his drinking buddy in this place full of kids was still here. If Chuck had any sense in that polished head of his, he would make sure to find a way to keep Kurt within these walls to continue his legacy as he doubted anyone else could make living so far from their parents feel like an enjoyable vacation.

"And who's this?" He inquired jerking his head to an individual behind the girl quite certain that the subtle traces of masculine scent his nose had picked up on Rogue's person had come from this lad.

"Oh, this is Bobby. He's um…"

"I'm her boyfriend" Bobby finished for Rogue as he stepped up beside her and offered his hand to Logan. "Call me Ice Man"

Logan wisely took the kid's word as his hand suddenly began to go numb due to Bobby freezing it over with his power before he could let go. At least he knew where to get some ice should the need ever arise.

"Boyfriend, huh? So have you to managed to…?" Logan left the sentence hanging confident that they knew what he was talking about and curious to see how they would react and reply to his question.

"We're…still working on that" Bobby replied after a moment's pause between the two teens.

"Well look who's come back. Just in time"

Turning towards the staircase, Logan half grinned at Ororo who was coming down the stairs while also half confused about what she meant by that.

"For what? Kurt driven away Shades and Red?" Logan threw back getting a chuckle out of her while Rogue and Bobby walked off.

"We need a babysitter" The weather witch replied.

"So he has scared them of" Logan muttered as if that were the case. "And instead of welcoming me, you hire me to tame him and everyone else here in this joint"

"Nice to see you again, Logan" Ororo said almost tempted to ask if he was happy now that she had said hello.

"And what makes you think Kurt can scare off us?" Jean inquired from the top of the staircase.

"Well I doubt the elf was the golden boy during his school days before some idiot decided to add him to your team" Logan threw back. "What's going on anyways that you need _me_ to look after a nest of rugrats?"

"Storm and I are heading to Boston. The Professor wants us to track down the mutant who attacked the president" Jean explained.

"So it was a mutant" Logan muttered having heard about the attack while making a pit stop at a diner on his way to the school.

"Hopefully we'll be able to sort this out when we get back, providing Kurt doesn't succeed on running you off the premises" Jean joked.

"He's more than welcome to try" Logan threw back. "Although I doubt he would risk losing part of himself before being able to properly use it"

Jean did not know whether to grimace or snort at the implications behind the man's words. Fortunately, Scott had decided to show up at that moment and enter the discussion regardless of whether he was interrupting anything or not.

"Find what you were looking for, Logan?" He asked stepping up to beside Jean and putting an arm around her just in case the regenerating, metal skeletal mutant assumed that they were not together.

"More or less. Although your bike needs a refill" Logan replied tossing the man the keys to the motorbike.

"Then fill her up" Scott suggested tossing back the keys before walking Jean to the hanger where Ororo was likely to have gotten the X-jet ready for take-off.

Easily catching the keys Scott threw at him, Logan could not help but smirk seeing as not much had really changed around here other than Rogue getting together with some kid that could make popsicles. Seeing as he had said hello to most of the familiar faces he knew since last here, Logan reckoned he may as well hunt down Chuck and say hi to him also.

But not before grabbing hold of the prehensile tail that was sneaking up on him from above while he had been talking to the others. With a sharp tug, the body attached to the appendage came crashing down from the rafters none too gently.

"Hiya, Kurt" Logan greeted as he let go of the tail. "How's things?"

"None too pleasant at the moment" Kurt groan from where he was splayed out on the floor. "Still as cheerful as ever, I see"

"Let's just say I've learned to take things with a pinch of salt where you're concerned" Logan said remembering the last trick the elf had played on him when he had been leaving the school to investigate some ruins up in Alaska as well as his manner of waking up patients. Despite this, Logan offered Kurt his hand.

"Duly noted" Kurt replied grateful for the hand up from his assailant. "I am definitely going to feel that in the morning. Feels like I slipped a disc or two"

"I'm sure half-pint won't mind slipping those discs back into place" Logan joked well aware of the two's budding relationship as he patted Kurt on the back and headed off towards the Cerebra Unit where he was likely to find Chuck.

Wincing at the force of the simple pat on the back, Kurt merely watched Logan walk off while Kitty, having watched from the shadows all this time, finally stepped into view.

"Told you it wouldn't work" She told him shaking her head at his stupidity.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping me feel better instead of scolding me?" Kurt inquired quirking an eyebrow at the girl.

"Maybe tonight…if you're lucky" Kitty replied with a wink before draping one of the elf's arms over her shoulder and helping him up the stairs to his room where some 'R&R' was definitely required.

***\#/***

_I think I've gotten rusty since I last done this._

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch this space & peace out!_


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